Lemon Meringue Pie

Happy Easter!! We enjoyed a weekend of family, fun and good food in the kitchen. My sister-in-law and I made this lemon meringue pie yesterday for our Easter meal today. I suggest when you go to make this dessert, you have a friend in the kitchen to help. Since there are a few steps involved (the crust, the lemon curd and then meringue) it is nice to have an extra set of hands. (Thanks Ethan!!) The extra work is worth it when you cut your fork through the soft pillow of meringue into a burst of refreshing, sweet-yet-tart lemon filling. Yum.

Flaky Pie Crust
5 Tbs. cold butter
3 Tbs. cold Crisco
1 1/3 c. flour
1 Tbs sugar
1/4 tsp. salt
4 Tbs ice water
In a large bowl, mix flour, sugar and salt. Scatter butter and shortening over the flour and toss to coat. Using a pastry cutter, cut mixture until it forms pea size crumbles. Drizzle water over the mixture and mix until dough is evenly moist and starts to come together. On a floured work surface, form dough into a disk and refrigerate for an hour. Take chilled dough out and roll out onto a floured work surface and place in pie pan. Using a fork, pierce dough a couple of times in the pan and then bake at 400 F for 15-20 minutes or until golden brown. Set pan on a wire rack and let cool.

Lemon Curd

1 c. sugar

2 Tbs. grated lemon zest

1 1/2 c. water

1/4 c. cornstarch

1/4 tsp. salt

5 lg. egg yolks

1/2 c. lemon juice

1/4 c. unsalted butter at room temp.

In a medium sauce pan, whisk together sugar, lemon zest, water, cornstarch and salt. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat, whisking constantly and boil for 1 minute. Remove pan from heat. Whisk together egg yolks and lemon juice in a medium bowl. Add 1/2 c. of the hot cornstarch mixture to the yolk mixture and blend. Now take the yolk mixture and add it to the saucepan of cornstarch mixture and return to medium-high heat. Boil mixture for 1 minute or until thick. Remove from heat and pour filling through a strainer into a bowl and whisk in the butter. Fill the cooled pie shell with the hot filling.

Meringue

1/2 c. sugar

1 Tbs. plus 1 tsp. cornstarch

1/2 c. cold water
4 lg egg whites at room temperature
pinch of salt
In a small saucepan, whisk together the sugar, cornstarch and water and bring to a boil, stirring constantly over high heat and boil for 1 minute. Transfer mixture to a glass measuring cup (one with a spout).  Using an electric mixture, beat the egg whites on medium speed until foamy. Add salt and increase speed to medium-high and beat to form soft peaks. Pour cornstarch mixture in a fine stream while the beaters are running and continue beating until stiff peaks are formed. Top the pie filling with the meringue mixture with a rubber spatula and seal all of the filling in with the meringue. Form swirls in the meringue with a small spoon. Bake at 350 F for 15-17 minutes or until top is golden brown. Cool on a wire rack and serve.
Mom's Lemon Meringue Pie recipe from "Luscious Lemon Desserts"
Printable Recipe